Flower piece with bird's nest
dated 14 Nov 1792RCIN 452491
Of all the children of George III and Queen Charlotte, Princess Elizabeth – their third daughter – was the most talented and prolific artist. As well as painting in watercolours, designing fans, and making paper cut-outs, Princess Elizabeth designed decorative schemes for rooms at Frogmore House, including the Cross Gallery, which she adorned with panels of paper cut-outs and painted flower-garlands in swags.
Princess Elizabeth’s gift for flower painting is evident in this accomplished still-life, showing an elaborate arrangement of cut flowers, glistening with drops of dew. It is signed and dated: Eliza fecit (Eliza made this) Nov 14th 1792, and is a copy after a work by the noted flower painter Margaret Meen (active 1775 – 1822), now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.